Spurs 91, Lakers 85: Finishing strong

It wasn’t pretty. But a win is a win is a win, especially on the road, when playing without your first ballot Hall-of-Fame center. Not that the Spurs didn’t struggle mightily in Tim Duncan’s absence, missing 22 of their first 29 shots and falling behind by 15 midway through the second quarter. But the Spurs were back within one entering the second half, at which point the teams battle through 18 lead changes.

It was even at 80 when the Spurs, taking advantage of their veteran experience, closed on an 11-5 run featuring key shots from Tony Parker (tie-breaking jump shot, 82-80), Boris Diaw (3-pointer, 85-81), Tiago Splitter (offensive putback, 87-81) and, finally, Manu Ginobili (steal and breakaway dunk, 89-83). Best of all for the Spurs: Only Parker, with 36, logged major minutes entering tonight’s road game at Portland.

As you’d expect from a perennial MVP candidate, Parker was the one who stepped up most without Duncan, scoring 24 points to outscore four of L.A.’s starters by himself. He had only two baskets in the fourth quarter, but both were huge. (See above.) Combined with six assists against just one turnover, Parker was a consistent and critical source of production on a night the Spurs were sorely lacking (40.4 percent from the floor, including 5 for 21 on 3-pointers.)

The decisive moment

The closing surge embodied Spurs basketball at its finest: No hero ball, just quality team play with everyone chipping in. Four players scored a total of 11 points over the final three minutes, while the defense combined to hold the Lakers to 2-for-7 shooting with a pair of turnovers. It made up for a game that was mostly unwatchable, and provided a stark contrast to the ball-pounding isolation plays you typically see at the end of so many NBA contests.

News, notes and observations

* The Spurs improved to 14-8 over the past three seasons without Duncan, who is day-to-day with the chest contusion he suffered in Wednesday’s opening victory over Memphis.

* The Spurs were 8-9 on the second half of back-to-backs last season.

* So, Diaw as a legitimate scoring threat might be an actual thing after another aggressive performance from the burly Frenchman. Small sample size alert: It’s only been two games. But he’s scored 14 points in each of them, including 11 in the fourth quarter on Friday to prop up a Spurs offense that sputtered for lengthy stretches.

It’s obviously way, way too early to tell if Diaw has legitimately changed his approach after almost willingly passing up shots in order to play facilitator for the majority of his career. The Spurs certainly have to be encouraged so far, with Diaw pulling up off the dribble for a wing jumper — !!! — and sinking the aforementioned 3 with zero hesitation.